Bristol Old Vic

Culture Consultants were engaged by Bristol Old Vic Theatre in autumn 2021 to create a new membership product and proposition. This was to replace a previous scheme which was in decline and was very heavily dependent on offering substantial ticket discounts to its Members.
In devising a new scheme there was a strong emphasis on developing the supporter journey so that membership was a part of the broader programme of Individual Giving schemes. This would help the Theatre to become less dependent on ticket sales and more able to plan confidently for a future with assured philanthropic support.

A key objective was to devise ways that Members could become more engaged with the Theatre’s programmes and to become advocates for the Theatre.
Via a combination of audience research, data analysis, staff engagement and industry benchmarking, a solution was devised which created three new tiers of membership, priced to be accessible yet also to create higher levels of income. These all contained elements not hitherto offered to Members and were kept simple, so that each had three key benefits on offer. Ticket discounts were greatly reduced and the messages around support and sustainability given a central role.

Simon Jenkins, Bristol Old Vic’s Development Director, said, “Martin was a tremendous help for us in providing a clear pathway to achieve aims that were nebulous from the outset but became well defined over the course of our meetings with him. Considering the potential obstacles he faced in making the most of our inconsistent data, he still managed to put together a meticulous and detailed plan of action for our new membership scheme. It is something which I can imagine we will be using for some time to come, for its original intention but also as a point of inspiration for other similar-sized projects that require a high level of intensive work”.